Chapter Five
1. Protectiveness has become a way of life in our culture— and
an argument can be made that much of it is, on balance, a good thing. No one
wants his or her child playing with a toy coated in harmful substances or
mistreated by an unqualified childcare worker. But it should not surprise us
that our culture’s obsession with safety has shaped two generations of Boomer
and Buster parents who are deeply risk-averse when it comes to their kids. Is
it possible that our cultural fixation on safety and protectiveness has also
had a profound effect on the church’s ability to disciple the next generation
of Christians? Are we preparing them for a life of risk, adventure, and service
to God— a God who asks that they lay down their lives for his kingdom? Or are
we churning out safe, compliant Christian kids who are either chomping at the
bit to get free or huddling in the basement playing World of Warcraft for hours
on end, terrified to step out of doors?
Here are some of the
criticisms that young Christians and former Christians level at the church:
- Christians demonize everything outside of the church.
- Christians are afraid of pop culture, especially its
movies and music.
- Christians maintain a false separation of sacred and
secular.
- Christians do not want to deal with the complexity or
reality of the world.
The risks of
overprotectiveness include:
- Alternate thrills
- Failure to launch
- Paralyzing self-doubt
- Loss of creatives
- Review and discuss
each of these criticisms and risks.
2. Yet this hopeful potential in the next generation also comes
with a number of very real challenges. An aspiration to influence culture begs
the question of how to embody in-but-not-of faithfulness, and how to deal with
the poison pill of cultural accommodation that the pull toward mainstream
influence makes available. Let me put it this way: gaining credibility for its
own sake is vanity; gaining credibility to participate in God’s work to redeem
his world is a mission. I am concerned that too many Mosaic Christians are so
interested in pursuing the good, the true, and the beautiful that they forget
to acknowledge and draw near to the source of those pursuits— Jesus. The church
must help the next generation live into the difference, by turning our
overprotectiveness into discernment.
Here are some
examples:
- Overprotectiveness characterizes
everything that is not Christian as evil. Discernment helps young people understand that other people are not
our enemies, but that there is fundamental brokenness in humans and an
adversary who intends to derail us in every possible way.
- Overprotectiveness makes
strict rules about media consumption to “save the kids from smut.” It
avoids watching, reading, and talking about current events and pop culture in
the hope that they will just go away.
Discernment reads
“the Bible and the newspaper,” in theologian Karl Barth’s famous formulation
(we might update this to “the Bible and the Internet”). Unless we choose to
live in secluded Christian community— which is a viable option for only a few—
exposure to media-driven culture is inevitable. Rather than steering clear of secular
films, music, websites, books, and television shows, let’s watch, listen, and
read together and do “cultural exegesis” as a faithful community.
- Overprotectiveness oversimplifies
the tough stuff of life— suffering, failure, relationships— and offers
formulas instead of honest, contextualized answers. Discernment is transparent about the hazards of being human and
teaches the full witness of Scripture, which is messy, complex, and,
ultimately, wonderfully true.
- Overprotectiveness discourages risk taking and uses fear to “protect”
the next generation. Discernment
guides young people to trust God fearlessly and follow Christ in the power of
the Spirit, even at the risk of their lives, reputations, and worldly success.
- Overprotectiveness tries to convince young people that the
only (or best) way to serve God is by working in a church, parish, Christian
nonprofit, or mission field. Discernment
recognizes that there is no difference between sacred jobs and secular
professions. Yes, we need called and prepared young people to serve as priests,
pastors, evangelists, and missionaries. But we also need to affirm the powerful
sentiment captured by Dutch theologian and politician Abraham Kuyper: “Oh, no
single piece of our mental world is to be hermetically sealed off from the
rest, and there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence
over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!’”
- Overprotectiveness paints a false picture of reality that hurts young
people much more in the long run than honesty would in the short run.
Many teens and young adults have been told they can be, do, and have anything
they want— only to find the “real world” not quite so obliging. Discernment develops a robust theology
of calling that recognizes each person’s unique purpose and gifting as nothing
less (or more) than what God has ordained. Let’s recognize that the Holy Spirit
has plans for the next generation that are bigger than what they can dream for
themselves, and let’s make it our business to tune their hearts to hear his
voice, not just ours.
- Along with the
author’s input, discuss the risks of:
Following Christ;
parenting; cultural influence; and holiness.
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